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I’d only seen him a handful times throughout the week, though I’d always felt his presence near. We’d spoken briefly, in conversations that always felt too short—but just long enough to realize that we were both miserable.
Thela hadn’t recovered fully though she continued to improve every day. Two days ago, she’d begun to eat again, and I’d seen the emotion on Lorik’s face, the shimmering in his eyes, to know how much that had relieved him. I hadn’t realized how bad it had been, but he’d confessed that she’d been on the brink of death, even with the help of the spell.
Life was continuing on, in the Above and the Below, apparently.
So why couldn’t we? Why did I feel so stuck?
I huffed out a deep sigh, keeping my ears perked for Lorik as I walked home from Rolara in the darkness. I’d begun to bring my Halo orb with me, and it floated in front of me, illuminating my path, twinkling off icicles and patches of snow as my winter boots crunched through it.
It had been a hard day. The Healers’ Guild had lost an older patient, one whose body had simply given out. His name had been Povar. Just last week, I’d given him a salve for his aching joints and he’d made the trek back to the guild hall the following day just to thank me. He’d had a kind smile and a warm soul.
And today…he was just gone.
“What are you thinking of, little witch?”
I took in a deep breath through my nostrils, and I was surprised by the sense of comfort and relief I felt the moment I heard his voice, funneling its way to me like a warm, summer wind.
I’d almost made it to the cottage. Lorik was leaning against the trunk of a river tree, dressed in a fur-lined long-sleeved shirt and a thick, intricate vest with a beautifully stitched pattern. His pants were a dark blue, the color of midnight, and his black boots were tipped in silver metal.
I was used to the sight of him now, his features no longer suppressed by his magicked glamour. Even his eyes glowed more brightly.
“How easy is it for you to use glamour?” I wondered, stopping in front of him.
In an instant, the Lorik I’d known was before me. Softer, more delicate features like an Allavari. Even the broadness of his shoulders and the width of his chest seemed to shrink, and I wondered how I couldn’t have felt it when we’d been intimate.But magic was powerful. And I’d always known Lorik’s was greater than any I’d ever seen.
Are all Kelvarians this powerful?I wondered.
“Do you prefer me like this?” he asked. His voice was the same, though I thought it matched his true face better, now that I knew both.
“No,” I answered. It was my honest answer. “Because it’s not truly you. It’s what you think others need to see.”
Lorik dropped the glamour like he was lowering a shield. His eyes were even more vibrant against the snowy backdrop, like he’d been made for winter.
“What were you thinking of, Marion?” he asked again. “You look upset.”
I sighed. My eyes went to my cottage behind me. Dark and empty and cold. And for some reason, the thought of stoking up a fire inside by myself tonight felt like the most horrible thing.
“An older Allavari male died today at the guild hall,” I told him. “Povar. I didn’t know him well, but he was kind to me. And I don’t know… I feel…I feel…”
Lost.
“I’m sorry, Marion,” Lorik murmured. “Death is never an easy thing. It doesn’t matter if you knew him well or not. You still cared about him.”
I swallowed, tugging my shawl closer around my shoulders.
“Will you…” I started. “Would you like to come in for some tea?”
The silence that stretched felt charged with electricity, but I didn’t walk back my words. I wondered if that was why Lorik took so long to answer—because he was waiting for me to regret the question and change my mind.
Only I never did.
“Yes,” he finally replied. “I would.”
I nodded and turned, my heart thumping in my chest. Lorik followed me, his footsteps nearly silent in the snow. He stopped, however, at Peek’s boundary, and without hesitation, I took his hand and pulled him over.
The heat of his skin felt shocking and welcome. He didn’t drop my hand. He threaded his fingers in between mine, and I felt my shoulders relax.
The chill of my cottage was startling. Lorik released my hand as the Halo orb floated into the front room, casting sharp shadows across the wall from the furniture. I went to light my candles, and without me asking, Lorik sparked the fire in the hearth, his movements practiced and sure. All the wood he’d chopped for me had been used up, and I realized it had been over three weeks since he’d last been inside the cottage.
